James Ward Rector

James Ward Rector (June 24, 1903 – August 6, 1979) was an American jurist from Wisconsin.

Born in Glenwood, Missouri, Rector received his bachelor's degree and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as special counsel to the Governor of Wisconsin. In 1946, he was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court (filling the seat left vacant by the death on the bench of Joseph Maritn), but was defeated by Henry P. Hughes in the election in 1947. Rector then served on the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and then resigned, in 1949, to become president of a bank and practiced law. He ran again for state supreme court in in 1949, but again lost.